On writing, books, films, potpourri and lagniappe on anything and everything...

Monday, February 18, 2013

Review of THE RAPIST by The Fright Site

Hi folks,

(Warning: Some of the language and content below may not be suitable for younger readers.)

Here's one of the first pre-pub reviews of my forthcoming (March 20, 2013) novel, THE RAPIST, from The Fright Site an online site dedicated to horror entertainment, with frightening fiction, scary movies, gruesome games, bizarre comics, stimulating movie reviews, commentary on the horror genre, and weird diversions. The Fright Site's movies and internet fiction have won numerous awards. Online since 1995, The Fright Site is one of the oldest horror sites on the web.

The review of THE RAPIST was written by Adam Groves.

THE RAPISTBy LES EDGERTON(New Pulp Press; 2013)

Here we have a genuine rarity: a truly original entry in
a rather hackneyed subgenre. THE RAPIST is so unique, in fact, that I’m
finding it difficult to adequately describe. It’s a bit like THE
KILLER INSIDE ME crossed with THE STAR ROVER, being a stark crime
procedural, a gritty account of prison life (the author, unsurprisingly, is an
ex-con) and a near-psychedelic depiction of the whorls of a deranged mind, all
contained in an economic 142 pages.

The first person protagonist is
one Truman Ferris Pinter, a rapist-murderer reflecting back on his life and
crimes from his death row cell. In contrast to the protagonists of most crime
novels, Truman is extremely well educated, a Harvard bred snob whose nature is
reflected in his often absurdly erudite prose (example: “I had more
profitably recalled a sonnet of Andrew Marvell or a scene from Aeschylus, both
examples far loftier than grubby, nefarious depravations of some
inconsequential peasants…”).

That Truman is an unreliable
narrator is evident early on when he provides two separate accounts of the
brutal rape and murder of a young woman that led to his incarceration. He’s
trying desperately to convince us (and himself) of his innocence, first by
claiming his crime wasn’t “actually” a rape and the woman’s death an accident,
and then by questioning the very concept of rape, arguing that rape is
instrumental in propagating the species and that other cultures have more
aggression-friendly views of sexuality than ours.

Some blunt descriptions of
prison life follow, with Truman admitting to being raped by another inmate (“I
felt nothing during it other than wishing he’d speed it up”) and breaking a
tooth on a piece of gravel mixed in with his food. Truman also engages in a lot
of freeform musing about the events of his life, during which he reveals a most
intriguing tidbit: that as a child he could fly. Truman claims to have regained
that ability, and proves it (in a manner of speaking) when his mind eventually
unmoors itself entirely from the here-and-now and enters a subconscious realm
where Truman time-trips, speaks with God and witnesses his own death before
undergoing a painful self-realization.

Eccentric pulp fiction or
avant-garde literature? I’ll leave it up to you to make that distinction for
yourself. It won’t take you more than a couple sittings to read this short,
shocking and profound novel, but I can guarantee you will be indelibly
impacted by the experience.

More to come...

Blue skies,

Les

P.S. The second part of the interview I did with Alex Laybourne can be seen here.

1 comment:

Ken Bruen

I recently sent copies of THE RAPIST and THE BITCH to one of the best writers in the world, Ken Bruen. I just wanted to get on his radar and nothing else. He misunderstood and thought I was asking for a blurb... so he gave me one. Although unsolicited, it meant the world to me. Here's Mr. Bruen's email:

Dear Les

Thank you so much for the books and the superb novels.

You sure have lived the life and have a nice light touch in describing it.

I loved the novels.

Here is my blurb

Les Edgerton is the reincarnation of our beloved Eddie Bunker.

The writing is as tough and tender as Bunker with that wonderful sense of dry humour that underpins even the most violent of scenes.

This guy can write and like a focused Bukowski.

Make no mistake, here is the real deal.

The books cry out for movie deals.

Warmest wishes

Ken Bruen

Total Pageviews

THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING

It's here!

THE BITCH

Spinetingler Magazine nominee for Best Novel, Legends category

THE RAPIST

Available now from New Pulp Press and Amazon

THE RAPIST- German Edition

Pulpmaster

Just Like That

Autobiographical novel

FINDING YOUR VOICE

Craft book on the writer's voice

FINDING YOUR VOICE

SNIPPET VERSION

HOOKED: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go

Craft book on story beginnings

Monday's Meal

NY Times compared me to Raymond Carver in the review.

Perfect Game USA and the Future of Baseball

History of the world's biggest youth baseball scouting service

The Death of Tarpons

My first novel--was awarded a Special Citation from the Violet Crown Book Awards

MIRROR, MIRROR

Young adult thriller

The Perfect Crime

Crime Thriller

SURVIVING LITTLE LEAGUE

Co-written by Mike and Les Edgerton. Spoof on "daddyball."

Gumbo Ya-Ya

Collection of short stories and essays

BEST THRILLER OF 2011 AWARD

Preditors and Editors Award

Nominee for Best Thriller of 2014

THE RAPIST

Sent to me by my colleague Holly Love. This is my "signature store" in Boulder, Colorado. BLUE SKIES, EVERYONE!

Followers

Subscribe To

Advice to live by

Also... Senility isn't when you forget to zip up your pants... it's when you forget to zip them down...

Advice for writers: There is no such thing as a synonym. There's just the perfect word. The perfect word doesn't come in groups.

If life hands you lemons... make lemonade. Then... try to find someone to whom life has handed vodka...

Never argue with an idiot. They'll drag you down to their level... and then beat you with experience.

Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

The value of the study of philosophy: Studying the deep thoughts of others is like studying their stools to figure out how to cook what they ate. It may be possible, but it's not worth what you have to wade through.

Two rules to live by to have a good life I gave to my son Mike:1. Never date a girl named after a day of the week.2. Never play poker with anyone named after a city.

The writer's only responsibility is to his art. He will be completely ruthless if he is a good one. He has a dream. It anguishes him so much that he can't get rid of it. He has no peace until then. Everything goes by the board: honor, pride, decency, security, happiness, all, to get the book written. If a writer has to rob his mother, he will not hesitate; the "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is worth any number of old ladies. (Wm. Faulkner)

Give a thief enough rope... and he'll use it to tie you up, beat you up, and steal all your stuff...

My life in one sentence: I keep getting bottle caps that say, "Try again." And so I do...

About Me

Hi! Welcome to my blog. To introduce myself, I'm a full-time writer with fifteen books in print and I teach creative writing on the university level, through private coaching of writers, and on various on-line venues.
I write in a variety of forms: novels, short stories, nonfiction books, screenplays and the subjects I choose to write about are just as varied, including sports, literary fiction, thrillers, black comedy and the craft of writing.
I'm married to Mary and we have a son, Mike. I have two daughters--Britney and Sienna--from a previous marriage. I immigrated to Ft. Wayne, IN from the U.S.A. and it's where I still live today. Doing my best to learn the language and adjust to the culture.
I have a checkered past, having spent two-plus years incarcerated at Pendleton Reformatory back in the sixties for burglary. I'm all cleaned up now and you can invite me into your home and don't have to count the silverware when I leave.
Graduated from Indiana University with a B.A. in General Studies (Honors of Distinction); obtained an MFA in Writing from Vermont College.
Email: butchedgerton@comcast.net
Twitter: HookedOnNoir